1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for high throughput particle separation to deflect only specific particles based on sizes and dielectric properties of the particles, using an electrode array, including a plurality of electrodes each constructed in the form of a cantilever to which a voltage is applied, arranged in a path along which particles move in the direction of gravity, thereby separating the particles at high throughput.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various technologies have been proposed in order to realize high throughput sorting, which is one type of cell separation technology. Among them are dielectrophoresis (DEP) and deterministic lateral displacement (DLD), which are being principally spotlighted.
In connection with the dielectrophoresis, it is well known that dielectrically polarizable particles are subjected to dielectrophoretic force in a nonuniform electric field when effective polarizability of the particles is different from that of the surrounding media although the particles have no electric charges. As widely known in connection with electrophoresis, the movement of particles is not determined by electric charges of the particles but by dielectric properties (conductivity and permittivity) of the particles.
However, the utilization of the dielectrophoresis is possible only by the provision of an expensive micro syringe pump that allows particles to move at a velocity of less than 5 μl/min, and, in addition, errors may occur according to the change in size of the particles.
On the other hand, the deterministic lateral displacement has advantages in that it is possible to separate particles while correctly coping with the change in size of particles, and it is possible to move particles at a velocity of 20 μl/min, which is faster than in the dielectrophoresis, thereby achieving separation of particles faster than in the dielectrophoresis. However, the deterministic lateral displacement has a great problem in that it is not possible to separate particles based on dielectric properties thereof.
In order to solve this disadvantage, attempts have been made to apply the dielectrophoresis to a micro structure using the deterministic lateral displacement. However, proper velocity and considerable time are required to process a large quantity of samples, by which efficiency is lowered.
That is, the conventional particle separation methods have problems in that considerable time is required to separate particles based on sizes and dielectric properties of the particles. Also, a small quantity of particles is processed using an expensive micro syringe pump and a micro channel, with the result that considerable time is required to obtain target particles. For bio particles such as cells, separation carried out for a long period of time may cause viability-related problems.